Press Release

Jobs Act Grant Provides New Funding in Florida for Small Business Development Centers2/25/2011

FORT MYERS, FL - Florida small businesses will soon have greater access to critical resources that will help find ways to create new businesses and new jobs, thanks to a $2.6 million grant to SBA's Florida Small Business Development Center Network.

The funding was provided under a key provision of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which provided $50 million in grants to SBA's Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) across the country to support the consulting and training services they provide to small businesses.

"We are pleased that we can provide additional small business assistance though our SBDC at Florida Gulf Coast University," said Dan Regelski, SBDC director. "We recently hired two part-time special projects consultants Cathy Haworth, MBA, CBA, and Neil Shnider, RPh, MBA, CPA, who will implement this program in Collier County and Bonita Springs."

The funds are for two years and are intended to meet the critical need for business expansion and job creation, in addition to the core funding or the matching funds that the SBDCs require to sustain the program annually. The primary objective of funding is to support job creation and retention within the small business community through individualized, in-depth consultations with entrepreneurs and small business owners.

This job creation and retention investment funding will allow the Florida Small Business Development Center Network to launch its Growth Acceleration Program (GAP) targeted to assisting Florida's primary job producers - small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

GAP will help increase job creation and retention for Florida by providing enrolled SMEs with no-cost access to certified turnaround and growth professional business consultants. GAP consultants will assist the program's SMEs by helping them develop sustainable growth strategies, including helping develop strategic plans, assessing and accessing capital, determining market diversification tactics, and assisting in shoring up financial practices and financial institution relationships.

"I'm pleased that these resources are available for our small business owners in Southwest Florida and plan to aggressively target the industries that meet the criteria of the program."

For more information about the GAP program in Bonita Springs, contact Neil Shnider at (239) 565-0882, nshnider@fgcu.edu and in Collier County, Cathy Haworth at (239)565-0880, chaworth@fgcu.edu.